Assessment Plan-Jon Wilson

Performance Task Title Create Your Own Compromise-Prevent the Civil War

Grade 11

Designer Jon Wilson

Performance Task Students will build a compromise to try and prevent the Civil War from the view of a state
Annotation which they are assigned. Students will be assigned a particular state in the Union,
research the views of that state during the Antebellum era, and craft a compromise which
will be presented to the class and voted on with the class acting as Congress.
Subject US History

Approximate Duration Three 50 minute class periods

Focus Standards SSUSH8 The student will explain the relationship between growing north-south divisions
and westward expansion.
a. Explain how slavery became a significant issue in American politics; include the slave
rebellion of Nat Turner and the rise of abolitionism (William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick
Douglass, and the Grimke sisters).
b. Explain the Missouri Compromise and the issue of slavery in western states and
territories.
c. Describe the Nullification Crisis and the emergence of states rights ideology; include
the role of John C. Calhoun and development of sectionalism.
d. Describe the war with Mexico and the Wilmot Proviso.
e. Explain how the Compromise of 1850 arose out of territorial expansion and population
growth.
National Standards 1. Creativity and innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative
products and processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
3. Research and information fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a
variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness
to specific tasks
4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve
problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.
a. Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
b. Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
d. Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions
Description and Teacher Prior to class, students will have read and annotated divided notes on SSUSH 8 for
Directions background knowledge regarding the Antebellum era, sectionalism, and the growing
divide between the North and South during the mid-19th century.
1. Upon entering the class on the first day of the assignment students will view a
digital video to introduce the project and provide additional background
information on the topic. A typed digital copy of the instructions will be available
in the students share folder drive.
2. After viewing the video, students will be paired together and assigned a state to
 research using electronic resources in the schools media center. Students will
research the states stance on issues pertaining to the Antebellum/Civil War era
and begin creating a plan to create a compromise to reunite the Union from that
states perspective. In order to successfully complete the task, students will need
to research and understand their states position on topics such as economics,
slavery, states rights, political beliefs, etc.
3. Upon completing their research, students will begin to craft their compromise by
creating an outline as a rough draft in Microsoft Word. Students may research the
Missouri Compromise and Compromise of 1850 as examples to model from.
4. Once the outline is completed, students will begin creating an electronic, digital
presentation using either Prezi or Weebly that will be presented to the class.
5. Each Prezi or Weebly will be composed of several different sections which will
outline each component of the proposed compromise. Each section must contain
a portion of the proposal as well as a visual. The visual may be a picture,
pictograph, or brief video made by the group.
6. Once the presentation is complete, the partners will walk the class through the
proposal using the EPSON interactive board to navigate the presentation in the
schools media center.
7. After all the presentations are complete, the class will vote on which compromise
to adopt. Students will serve as Congressmen from the state they researched.
Rubric Title Civil War Compromise Rubric

Rubric Description This rubric is designed to give students structure in completing their presentation and
guide their work as well as allow for teacher comments and feedback in order to better
understand the subject and make corrections in their work.
Rubric Fails to Meet Below Meets Exceeds
Expectations- Expectations- Expectations- Expectations-
1 2 3 4
Organization Project is Project is Project is Project is
disorganized loosely effectively effectively and
with no logical organized with organized with clearly
sequence or elements in a logical organized with
organization some order but sequencing and a logical
and no outline not properly grouping to sequencing and
is submitted. grouped. The elements. grouping
outline does Project which is
not match the generally clearly
organization of follows the explained and
the submitted defined.
presentation. outline. Project and
outline match
up perfectly.
Content No Compromise Compromise is Compromise is
compromise proposal is not clearly stated clearly stated
proposal is clear or and is original and explained
made and original work work and with original
elements such and some elements such work and
as imagery elements such as imagery as elements such
does not as imagery are present. as imagery are
appear. missing. present
throughout the
project.
 Accuracy The proposal is Some elements The proposal is The proposal is
not historically of the proposal mostly entirely
accurate and are historically historically historically
no attempt is accurate but accurate but accurate and
made for there are there are some there are no
accuracy. notable (few) mistakes. mistakes.
mistakes.
Presentation The project is The project is The project is The project is
not presented presented to presented to presented to
to the class as the class but the class and is the class is all
it is not not complete. mostly elements of the
complete. completed. project are
complete.
Example of Student Students are expected to submit a link to their Prezi or Weebly and an attachment of their
Work with Teacher outline electronically to the teacher via e-mail before the presentation to the class. The
Commentary (General teacher will follow the presentations outline to ensure that everything is in proper order
Explanation) and all criteria is met. As the students make their presentation to the class, the teacher will
take notes on the rubric and provide feedback for the student. Students will navigate the
presentation to show the different elements of their proposed compromise from a
political, economic, states rights, and human rights point of view and how they suggest
managing each topic to preserve the Union. Additionally, the visual for each section will
be checked to make sure it is appropriate and matches the topic of each section.

A common misconception that students make with an assignment of this nature is they
will too closely model elements similar to those found in the Missouri Compromise and
the Compromise of 1850 instead of creating their own original ideas. They will often
believe they are creating their own ideas when in fact they are bending examples to fit
their state. The feedback I give to them is to revisit their plan and create T-chart
comparing their plan to the original compromises. Once they compare the two, I have
them go back and retool their proposal and develop an original idea. It is fine that they
take ideas from the original compromises but I want them to think for themselves and
develop high levels of thinking. This issue would impact their score in the content area of
the rubric as the compromise proposal would be lacking original idea and solutions.
Materials and -Computers
Equipment -Internet access
-EPSON Interactive Board
-Prezi
-Weebly
-Microsoft Word
21st Century Technology -EPSON Interactive Board to present the proposal
-Link to Prezi to make the presentation for the compromise
www.prezi.com
-Link to Weebly to make the presentation for the compromise
www.weebly.com
-Individual laptop/desktop computers or iPads to research and create presentations
Differentiated -Students will have a choice of product in what they create by choosing between Prezi
Instruction and Weebly.
-Students will be able to choose between using electronic/digital resources or hard bound
books as research.
-Students with individual education plans (IEPs) will have their accommodations met and
adjustments (such as extended time, small group, read aloud, preferential seating, etc.)
made.
Web Resources -Introduction video-YouTube
-Presentation website-Prezi
-Presentation website-Weebly
-Multiple search engines (such as Galileo and Google Scholar) to aid in research
Setting:
This class is set at Newton High School in Covington, Georgia which has a population of approximately 2400
students and is a Title I school. The US history class which this lesson will take place in will occur in the
schools media center. The media center allows students the access to laptop and desktop computers with
internet access as well as many digital and physical resources for research. Students will have plenty of room
for movement as they work together and traverse the media center searching for information as the room has an
open layout. Additionally, the media center has an EPSON Interactive Board available with a microphone to
allow students to make their proposals to the class.

Learners:
There will be 28 students in this 11th grade US history class are 16-17 years old. Of these 28 students, 15 are
female and 13 are male. It is a co-taught classroom setting as seven of the students are have IEPs which modify
their learning experience to accommodate their needs. Additionally, 24 of the students are of African-American
decent, two are Caucasian, and two are Hispanic. All of these students are fluent in English and demonstrate
proficiency in the language. The interests of the students vary greatly with many participating in a wide range of
after school activities such as athletics, BETA club, art, drama, band, chorus, anime, history, chess, etc. Finally,
many of the students enjoy hands-on, active participation learning while a minority of the students are auditory
learners.